These scientists are teaming up with Inuit communities to study climate change in Labrador

A group of marine scientists researching the coast of Labrador is putting local knowledge first. 

Memorial University of Newfoundland and Dalhousie University in Halifax are collaborating to research the climate on the coast of Labrador. The group, Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures, is also working with the Nunatsiavut government, and encouraging residents along the north coast to take the lead on what they study.

Eric Oliver, associate professor of oceanography at Dalhousie and one of the lead researchers on the project said the aim of the project is to do research in a collaborative way between academics and the community. 

That research specifically relates to coastal and environmental change in Nunatsiavut.

"That includes research on sea ice and ocean temperatures and salinity. It includes questions around fisheries and other species like char, the distribution of shrimp," he explained. 

"And it includes social science questions like, how do we do this kind of collaborative research between academics and community? Because it's quite new on both sides, actually, to try to do it effectively."

He said the team is made up of about a dozen professors and around 20 students and research co-ordinators, based in Rigolet, Hopedale, Postville and Nain.

Community comes first

But the group doesn't just want help from the community to gather information. They want input on what they should be doing. 

"That should be driven by community concerns, community questions," he said. 

Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures held open houses — called uKalagalâk, an Indigenous word that means to discuss many things — in Hopedale and Postville at the end of March. 

Oliver said they demonstrated research at the events, held a community supper and had activities for kids. They went out on the ice with members of the community to show them the equipment they use for field work. 

"I think the biggest learnings really have been not so much on traditional, let's say, scientific-eureka moments, but more so on the process of how to do this, how to do this fairly, how to do this equitably," Oliver said. 

"I can see people in the project based at universities, including myself, really growing and learning through this process."

It's not often an approach that scientists take when conducting field work. But the impact of spending time with these communities to engage with these communities "in a really deep and vulnerable way" was invaluable, he said.

In a typical research project, Oliver explained, researchers will read literature and study the area. And once that project is complete, the community is left wondering what happens with that research. 

"This is not about trying to do research in the service of external research institutions in the south," Oliver said. 

"This is about trying to bring the power of research and the power and interest of communities together for the benefit, primarily, of the community." 

Dylan Seidler, one of the student researchers on the project, agrees. 

"We wanted to make sure it was going to be an event that wasn't just researchers talking at community, but gave [locals] the chance to be involved and really listen to what they want to see in the future," she said. 

Moving from coast to coast

Seidler, originally from California, studied ocean science on the Pacific Ocean before joining the team in the Atlantic. The group's recent trip was her first time in Labrador. 

"I would say that the people that I worked with on the West Coast versus the East Coast were obviously different, but the Indigenous communities that I was connected to similarly value their fish. That's really important to them," she said. 

"In the Pacific Coast, it's the Pacific salmon and … for the people of Nunatsiavut it's the char. And part of, I guess, my undergrad was focusing on how the federal government can listen to Indigenous nations more when it comes to conserving species, and trying to point out that we should be listening to people who know about these fish."

Bridging the gap

As for how to close the divide between researchers' expertise and community members, Seidler said, it's pretty simple. 

"Start by having a conversation with people." she said. 

"Whichever community you're involved in, just start talking about whatever they find interesting." 

She said the conversations don't have to be limited to the research or the ocean. They can be about activities. They can share information and opinions. 

"From there you get these really in-depth conversations where you're talking to people as people," she said. 

And those conversations are just as interesting as the research, she said, and are the foundations of the science that she studies.  

"At the end of the day, I want my project to matter to the community I work with," Seidler said. 

Oliver, whose family roots are in Rigolet, said bringing his home region and his research together is rewarding and important for him. 

The group plans to continue their research and monitor how the climate is changing in Nunatsiavut. 

"We're talking not about measuring something just for five or six years. We need to be establishing a long-term measurement so that we can actually track long-term climate change," Oliver said.

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